The violence that emerged from these tensions and France’s inability to arrive at a stable democratic political consensus are reminders that political and social progress are never linear. During the tumultuous 1790s, the French grappled with the desire for and fear of change, deep political divisions, profound social inequalities, and rumor and fear-mongering, all against a backdrop of war and economic strain. president still refuses to accept recent election results as legitimate, firing up an already potent and dangerous White nationalist movement that feeds on social media-fueled fever dreams. The unsettled era of the French Revolution (1789–1799) offers insight to our current historical moment as the former U.S.
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Each historical event is a unique congeries of factors, people, or chronology.” However, she also suggests that “by examining the past, we can get some useful lessons on how to proceed and some warning about what is or is not likely to happen.” In her words, history can help us to be wise. As Margaret MacMillan notes, “There are no clear blueprints to be discovered in history that can help us shape the future as we wish. History does not repeat, and no historical event offers a perfect parallel to the present. Those who cannot remember the past are not condemned to repeat it- pace George Santayana. Drawing on their own areas of expertise, they have looked to the past as a way of understanding the tensions of this particular moment. Capitol on January 6, 2021, historians have stepped forward to offer ways to think about these events. In the wake of the violent attacks on the U.S. Many Americans may be tempted to interpret Biden’s inauguration as the opening of a new chapter, and in many ways it is, but we must remain on guard to the extremism that persists in the United States. This paper is an outgrowth of a talk given at the Newberry library on January 15, 2021.